Since last month, I have really been enjoying Japanese green tea more and more and the Sencha Saemidori Kagoshima is no exception. At first, I was going through my samples to see if I had any Japanese green tea left. After I went through all of my samples, I finally placed an order at ANMO and one of the teas is this sencha.
Sencha Saemidori Kagoshima
This Sencha Saemidori Kagoshima is a Japanese sencha from the Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. As you can also tell from its name, the saemidori cultivar was used to make this tea. Sencha is a very famous green tea from Japan en literally means ‘simmered tea’. In contrast to matcha, sencha is steeped in water and the leaves are removed from the water once the infusion is done. Matcha on the other hand is whisked and mixed with water so that you actually drink the (ground) tea leaves.
This particular sencha is from 2020 and is fully organic. This means that it’s produced without any pesticides or chemical fertilisers. The farmer even made sure the bordering tea fields didn’t have any unnatural fertilisers or pesticides.
Tea Tasting
- 5g for a 150ml Tokoname Kyusu
- Water 70°C
The leaves have a dark green colour. Fairly small leaves but I also spot some bigger ones. The bag smelled amazing! Really fruity aroma filled my nostrils when I opened the bag. The leaves themselves have a sweet, floral and fruity aroma with a greasy edge. Definitely an interesting smell.
Infusion 1 (20 sec): this one has a light jade colour. It definitely has a greasy and umami feel to it; it feels just right! From the middle onwards, there is a slight sweetness present that slowly drifts off. Really gentle first infusion.
Infusion 2 (20 sec): the colour is green but it has a yellow hue to it. Umami is right there at the start and a strong greasiness fills my mouth. Once this fades, more gentle and fruity notes pop up. This is noticeable in the finish and aftertaste. A couple of minutes later, a sweetness pops up as well.
Infusion 3 (30 sec): the colour is similar but the flavours have changed. Almost no umami greasiness and the fruitiness has become more dominant. It quickly builds up to a sweet fruitiness. Once it has reached its peak, it changed into a sweetness similar to dark sugar. The finish and the aftertaste have some light grassy notes to them.
Infusion 4 (45 sec): a bit more subtle but really enjoyable. It is slightly fruity with a strong sugar sweetness. It slowly fades into a nice and delicious aftertaste.
Infusion 5 (60 sec): it’s fading, but still enjoyable. It feels delicate, fruity, sweet and grassy. All at the same time.
Conclusion
In the past, Japanese green tea hasn’t been my friend… However, this tea shows that it really is a rewarding and delicious subcategory of tea that is worth exploring. This Sencha Saemidori Kagoshima felt just right as I didn’t experience any harsh or super fresh flavours.
It started out with prominent umami flavours and slowly transformed into something fruity and sweet. Really delicious tea and just what I needed! Excellent value for money!
If you want to try it, click here.
